Glossary
Utilisation
Used interchangeably with occupancy, though one is a moment and the other is a period.
Utilisation is, in Workplaced's definition, the use of a space over a period, measured in seat-hours in use against the seat-hours available in that period. Where occupancy is one moment, utilisation aggregates many of them. The period and the hours (core hours or all opening hours) belong with the figure.
Also called Space utilisation, Utilisation rate
How it is calculated
Utilisation = seat-hours in use ÷ seat-hours available × 100
- Seat-hours in use
- Every observed seat, multiplied by the length of the interval it was observed in.
- Seat-hours available
- Capacity multiplied by the hours the space was open to be used.
Expressed as A percentage, over a stated period.
This is a Workplaced definition, not a universal industry norm. Counted object: seats occupied per observation interval. Capacity: seats multiplied by the hours the space was available. Period: stated with the figure. Exception: hours outside the chosen opening times do not count. The period has to be stated with the figure. Utilisation over a core week and utilisation over all opening hours are different numbers for the same room.
Illustrative worked example: one meeting room
- Capacity
- 12 seats
- Hours available in the week
- 45
- Seat-hours available
- 540
- Seat-hours observed in use
- 119
- Hours the room was booked
- 31 of 45
Utilisation is 22 per cent, while the booking calendar reads 69 per cent full.
The gap between those two figures is the room's real problem: it is reserved almost constantly and used by two or three people at a time.
Where it goes wrong
Reading the calendar instead of the room
A booking is an intention. Utilisation measures what happened, and the difference between the two is where most meeting-room shortages turn out to live.
Ignoring the size mismatch
A twelve-seat room used by three people is fully occupied and barely utilised. Occupancy alone rates that room as a success.
Changing the denominator mid-argument
Utilisation against core hours flatters a space; against all opening hours it condemns it. Pick one, state it, and keep it for every room you compare.
Where this measurement decides something
- How much office space do we need?
Sizing a building on this figure.
- Consolidate or renew the lease?
Taking it to a board.
- Occupancy
How it is measured in practice.
Related terms
- Occupancy
The same space at a single moment.
- No-show rate
What separates a booked room from a used one.
- Activity classification
What the space was being used for, not only that it was taken.
Comparing two suppliers' occupancy figures?
Describe in a message how each supplier defines its occupancy figure, and we will tell you what each one is counting.